Question on Nasus

Bultz··4 votes·1,448 views

So I've taken to playing Nasus a bit because he is fun, but I have a question as far as how to play against champions. So i've played against various adc who have just melted my face off even though I've often enough built 400 armor 200 magic resist and end up with near 4000 hp. They build speed and one 10% armor pen item, and I insta die with 900 stacks before I can even reach them. This goes especially for Kog'Maw and Vayne who are pure cancer. So what am I supposed to do? I tried every item and various various combinations often selling and buying new items in game to try to even out. But one stun from like Jinx and I'm melted... SO WTF

28 Comments

TheOvermind3 votes

U don't fight them. U stick top and splitpush . Nasus never leaves the toplane.

74632082_DEL2 votes

You always take ghost on nasus. Always, that way you can 1 shot the ad carry and ghost allows u to run though units which means they can't body block for there adc and u can kill him

HateDaddy1 votes

[{quoted}](name=FEYD RAUTHA IV,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=dJA3BIfZ,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2016-08-26T17:46:50.940+0000)

You always take ghost on nasus. Always, that way you can 1 shot the ad carry and ghost allows u to run though units which means they can't body block for there adc and u can kill him

Ghost is definitely better for teamfighting but it still needs to be understood that it does not make you immune to cc or slows. So understanding when to dive if possible is pretty key, otherwise you'll just get to your death moving quicker than normal.

Ghost is also riskier for laning. In higher elos, I've found junglers camp the shit out of my lane when I run ghost because it's not a reliable escape. But it's low cooldown is a pretty good trade off, it just depends on what you want to do. I think running flash is just as optimal because it's safer and flash + wither or flash + Qs can actually lead to some some clutch kills.

HateDaddy2 votes

Nasus has no natural defensive steroid outside of the HP on his ult and his lifesteal but both are insignificant when he needs it the most: late game. Nasus is not good late game, he dies too fast while being way too easy to peel/kite.

You need to look for flanks, otherwise you need to split and try to teleport into potential fights. Attempting to teamfight with Nasus is a lost cause once carries start getting %pen items because you simply have no way to deal with it. You want to look to fight in the mid game with him, around 18-24 minutes when you're sitting on 300-400 stacks with a sheen. At this point you hit like a truck, are higher level than most champions, have a tank item completed and the enemy carries won't have %pen yet, so you're really fucking hard to kill. If you're gonna teamfight, this is the time to do it.

legionnaire991 votes

Nasus is a counterpick 2 Vayne KogMaw Irelia super strong attack speed slow item 3110 if it's really needed on top

Sasogwa1 votes

{quoted}

Nasus is a counterpick 2 Vayne KogMaw Irelia super strong attack speed slow item 3110 if it's really needed on top

That was when his attack speed slow wasn't garbage. Ever since they literally divided it by 2 it sucks. Nasus is nearly countered by the champions he used to counter.

Bultz1 votes

{quoted}

That was when his attack speed slow wasn't garbage. Ever since they literally divided it by 2 it sucks. Nasus is nearly countered by the champions he used to counter.

Very true, I just get melted and there isn't anything I can do, I mean 900 stacks 400 armor 200 mr and 4000 health just getting buried by this seems very cheap to me.

Bultz1 votes

{quoted}

Nasus is a counterpick 2 Vayne KogMaw Irelia super strong attack speed slow item 3110 if it's really needed on top

I've build every armor item in game to try to stop being destroyed, but man it's not working they Nasus is countered by anyone with a foot distance and speed, He no longer counters them

Restless Slumber1 votes

You have to snowball against them. I would also advise you to build a item 3800 because it allows you to gap close on them. This is a core item I see all Nasus mains in high elo build.

Bultz1 votes

{quoted}

You have to snowball against them. I would also advise you to build a item 3800 because it allows you to gap close on them. This is a core item I see all Nasus mains in high elo build.

Hmm you this will help for the gap closing very true, ty. I will try this out. I mean I snowballed, bot gave away 2 or 3 kills and they melted me so fast I cried lol

Restless Slumber1 votes

Yea, I see every good Nasus build this and Triforce then going for armor and magic resist. Building movement speed on Nasus is great, it's a priority stat. I would even recommend taking movement speed quints on him if you aren't going to take CDR in runes. Other good items are Dead Man's Plate and Zz'Rot Portal.

GamblerOfLives1 votes

vayne melts nasus, and can easy 1 vs 1 him.vayne counters nasus

Idk about kog:P..but, if he has good peel, he melts nasus too.

Irelia- nasus counters her to be honest..but, if the irelia farms, she will outscale him ( in terms of utility and 5 vs 5 potential) 1 vs 1 later on, very few champs can 1 vs 1 nasus:P.

Also, armor, destroys him..makes his Q useless.

Nasus is good when he snowballs and to splitpush (destroys turrets)

Bultz1 votes

{quoted}

vayne melts nasus, and can easy 1 vs 1 him.vayne counters nasus

Idk about kog:P..but, if he has good peel, he melts nasus too.

Irelia- nasus counters her to be honest..but, if the irelia farms, she will outscale him ( in terms of utility and 5 vs 5 potential) 1 vs 1 later on, very few champs can 1 vs 1 nasus:P.

Also, armor, destroys him..makes his Q useless.

Nasus is good when he snowballs and to splitpush (destroys turrets)

I know, but I mean there has to be some item counter play to vayne and Kog'. He used to counter both of them and now he counters no one until 30 minutes in and that's if they aren't speed champions.

GamblerOfLives1 votes

{quoted}

I know, but I mean there has to be some item counter play to vayne and Kog'. He used to counter both of them and now he counters no one until 30 minutes in and that's if they aren't speed champions.

Well, idk much about kog..but, regarding vayne..She destroys him, no matter what you build. She has percent health true dmg. I mean, you can buy, ninja tabi,frozen heart, thornmail. If she has blade- try to not get alot of health:))..

Idk, go for dmg, i guess:)). You can't tank her.

and late game, Nasus is useless..he is good if he snowballs (the enemy needs to be a potato) or, to splitpush (few champs can actually 1 vs 1 him)

Bultz1 votes

{quoted}

Well, idk much about kog..but, regarding vayne..She destroys him, no matter what you build. She has percent health true dmg. I mean, you can buy, ninja tabi,frozen heart, thornmail. If she has blade- try to not get alot of health:))..

Idk, go for dmg, i guess:)). You can't tank her.

and late game, Nasus is useless..he is good if he snowballs (the enemy needs to be a potato) or, to splitpush (few champs can actually 1 vs 1 him)

Doesn't that seem really really broken? I mean Nasus himself isn't better, but with him he has to work for the stacks and everything. Vayne Just kit's you from the get go, and I know she isn't only taking out tank's she's broken in almost all plays. And to add to that they buffed her for no reason.

GamblerOfLives1 votes

{quoted}

Doesn't that seem really really broken? I mean Nasus himself isn't better, but with him he has to work for the stacks and everything. Vayne Just kit's you from the get go, and I know she isn't only taking out tank's she's broken in almost all plays. And to add to that they buffed her for no reason.

not really:)..nasus sucks right now, even stacked, useless champ:P..Vayne, well, if she gets hit by something, she is done.. Vs assasins, she can't do much:)..short range, no wave clear, can't aa more champs at once (like jinx, ashe etc.)

GamblerOfLives1 votes

kog, let's say you can get to him..bcs he moves really slow.

BUT, fcking vayne, nothing you can do vs her..DESTROYS you..can kite you solo, stun you, outplay you:)..nothing you can do. ban her if you wanna play nasus;)

Bultz1 votes

{quoted}

kog, let's say you can get to him..bcs he moves really slow.

BUT, fcking vayne, nothing you can do vs her..DESTROYS you..can kite you solo, stun you, outplay you:)..nothing you can do. ban her if you wanna play nasus;)

Idk i find her broken beyond all means. Not just against Nasus, but in general.

The Yetii Rider1 votes

{quoted}

Idk i find her broken beyond all means. Not just against Nasus, but in general.

Vayne's range is really short. She is punished very hard by mages, who can basically blow her up before she closes in on anyone.

Vayne is a carry who doesn't really get assassinated, which makes her difficult to deal with. Especially since AD assassins were so powerful for so long that mage players are just out of practice these days.

Tychusfindlay9191 votes

{quoted}

Idk i find her broken beyond all means. Not just against Nasus, but in general.

Vayne is incredibly susceptible to CC and has some of the lowest base stats in terms of survivability.

She is a lot more mobile than kogmaw but deals way less up front damage, relying on every third hit to really start hurting whereas kogmaw starts deleting shit the second he presses W. She has much shorter range than kogmaw.

Nasus isn't that great in terms of juggernauts when wanting to fight vayne. Perhaps the best juggernauts are those who have abilities with decent range and who can punish her instead of get kited all day long.

Darius apprehend matches vayne's auto attack range and cannot be QSSd to the best of my knowledge. Illaoi Spirit pull can create a psuedotarget for illaoi and her team that can be used to chunk vayne incredibly hard. Mordekaiser Once this guy gets rylais, an ultimate on vayne will screw her over since she can qss one tick of slow but then it gets reapplied and stays on her for so damn long. Trundle Pillar

Nasus has only one form of cc that is susceptible to being QSSd, after that he has nothing special.

nami tf1 votes

Key counter against Nasus: kiting

Any mobile or true-damage hypercarry ADC IS going to melt your face AND any other hypercarry with decent peel can wreck you while denying you access to her, because that's what they're designed to do.

You can only really fight them before they can get items, meaning he is actually weaker late game than mid game.

VivaLaKitten1 votes

here's the thing about Nasus you're a Boss fight (ghost will help) bosses don't go out on their own though they target one person at a time doing heavy damage the few times they hit and taking tons of damage, the downside to a boss, is the lack of mobility here you get deadmans, ghost, or Rylai's / Ludens if you're ap Nasus is a tank, and shouldn't fight sustain enemies

simply put: stay with your team late game and get a deadmans plate

MunchCrunchLunch1 votes

too much damage meta. yesterday as a fed darius. i saw a low health target in the middle of the enemy team. i had flash and ghost. i used both. went in for the first dunk. and then i swear i died before i can ult anybody elise because i got melted as if i was a squish rengar that just jumped in. even though i had like 3.5k health. over 250 armor tabis and randuins included. and spirit visage.

the most success i had with darius nowdays is to build 3 damage items. and then tank . because the extra 2 tank items. will make you live an extra 1 second really. i will take my chances in killing them quicker instead. an illaoi that i beat the shit out of in lane . literally kill her every time she shows her face. can somehow do 2k damage to me in 1.5 seconds for some ridiculous reasons.

if you play nasus what you do is get trinity force. steraks gage and ghostblade. and then spirit visage ninja tabis and randuins.

or you could just sell your soul. play master yi and enjoy the easy wins. go jungle. or even top. take ghost. build whatever you want. crit on hit. and ghost in and kill the whole team after your team engages. just grab one or two hp items. titanic hydra and steraks do.

the only way to beat damage is more damage not tankiness.

CeexSett1 votes

Wtf Master Yi is freelo now?

http://champion.gg/champion/MasterYi

Don't think so...

So let me get it straight: Your tanky Darius/Nasus is getting melted in, by what you say, 3 seconds more or less? So your strategy is going with Yi with 2 health items? Don't you think, since there is that much damage, that you will be melted even before you can throw one auto?

Tychusfindlay9191 votes

{quoted}

too much damage meta. yesterday as a fed darius. i saw a low health target in the middle of the enemy team. i had flash and ghost. i used both. went in for the first dunk. and then i swear i died before i can ult anybody elise because i got melted as if i was a squish rengar that just jumped in. even though i had like 3.5k health. over 250 armor tabis and randuins included. and spirit visage.

the most success i had with darius nowdays is to build 3 damage items. and then tank . because the extra 2 tank items. will make you live an extra 1 second really. i will take my chances in killing them quicker instead. an illaoi that i beat the shit out of in lane . literally kill her every time she shows her face. can somehow do 2k damage to me in 1.5 seconds for some ridiculous reasons.

if you play nasus what you do is get trinity force. steraks gage and ghostblade. and then spirit visage ninja tabis and randuins.

or you could just sell your soul. play master yi and enjoy the easy wins. go jungle. or even top. take ghost. build whatever you want. crit on hit. and ghost in and kill the whole team after your team engages. just grab one or two hp items. titanic hydra and steraks do.

the only way to beat damage is more damage not tankiness.

WTF? I have incredible success on darius building two damage items and then pure tank.

Illaoi ult always hurts if she gets a bunch of people inside of it to spawn a bunch of tentacles, whether she's fed off her ass or she's 0/20. It's no different than taking a veigar ult to the face when your half HP or below. He can be 20/0 or 0/20 and that shit will hit like a truck.

Swiftstrike41 votes

Gold II Nasus main here I can give you some tips. Nasus is a duelist and is a counter to most attack speed champions, however, some matchups are skill based.

Edit: I just looked at some of your past games with Nasus. Your builds are largely TERRIBLE. Build item 3078 or item 3025 and FULL TANK after that. Don't build crit chance, don't build item 3072 item 3147 or item 3153. Nasus does not need any lifesteal because of his passsive, he does not need any damage because of his Q he ONLY needs tank stats and ONE damage item. If you are wondering on a very basic build go item 3065 item 3143 item 3111 item 3110 item 3742 and one of the above mentioned damage items. Build item 3026 if you can't afford to die and are the carry. Of course you should adjust your builds to the game but Nasus builds very statically due to his kit. He does not need much else besides resistances and one damage item.

When you have a Vayne KogMaw Jinx on the opposing team you need to itemize appropriately against them AND you have to pay attention to what they have, their positioning, and if the adc is with company.

  • Build item 3110 item 3143 against these champions no matter what you need the stacking attack speed slow from the cold steel passive and the FH passive.
  • Situationally build item 3025 if you have trouble catching you will need the AoE slow sometimes if they are good
  • Situationally build item 3075. Thornmail is a bad item BUT if the opposing team is almost ALL AD (so only the support is AP) you can buy it as your 5th or 6th item. Don't buy it any earlier because it sucks without additional armor. Note, that if you build item 3025 item 3110 item 3075 you other 2 items need A LOT of health. Warmogs, which is considered a bad item on Nasus, is justifiable in those instances.
  • Build item 3047 if the enemy team has lower CC. If 3 of the opponents have different types of CC don't build it and build item 3111. You need to gap close to deal damage. I think ninja tabi is a better item against these champions HOWEVER if you can't get to them it doesn't matter.
  • Take ghost summoner 6 instead of summoner 4. This is your gap closer and you will use this to kill one of them. Pop ghost at the start of the fight if they try to kite you.
  • MAX Wither second if these champions are in the game instead of your Spirit fire. I typically max wither second in general, some nasus players max spirit fire only, and others max either or by the situation. So why should you max wither over spirit fire? These champions don't build much armor, it is more important to gap close against these champions, the potency of the movement speed slow AND the attack speed slow increases with each point.
  • This means you have a maxed out wither, a item 3110 item 3143 and summoner 6 you should be able to effectively duel these champions if they do not have help and you pay attention to your positioning. You are really slowing their attack speed through items and the potency of your wither and you will be able to catch them with ghost
  • Check to see if any of them have item 3140 this is important because if they have it, it means it will take a second wither to land before you can all in them. If this is mid game and you are still going down your itemization route and they have this item you may not be able to fight them.
  • Nasus should be able to out duel any of these champions if the champion does not have the support with them AND they are both of comparable skill

On dueling Vayne she is the hardest to duel of the 3 and probably the most dangerous

  1. If she condemns you into a wall you probably have lost the fight due to the duration of the stun if the vayne is good she will begin fighting you buy popping her ult, tumbling to position for a condemn and killing you into the wall for the stun.
  2. Approach Vayne from the lane not from the jungle which gives her more likely chance for her to hit you into a wall
  3. If her item 3140 is up you probably cannot fight her if this is late game. If it is not up you can fight and win because it will only take 2-3 Qs to kill. NOTE if she has Heal it will take 1 more Q depending on how well you are stacked. Pay attention if she has used her summoner. That can be the difference int he fight

On dueling KogMaw

  1. Kogmaw needs help when fighting and he is easily killed if he has not one protecting him. While Vayne and Jinx have more agency in their kits if you gap close on Kogmaw he is for the most part dead.
  2. Kogmaw does mixed damage so you will need some magic resist against him you should have a 50/50 split in your build verse him
  3. You can pretty much approach him from the best route - if kogmaw tried to kite you pop ghost if he has no help.
  4. Good kogmaws when they realize they are dead will stand and auto you, this is how they max out their damage output when they know they can't escape. Be really careful because he will melt you in the late game just by doing this.
  5. In general, I don't group with my team too often against Kogmaws and almost split-push the whole game. Kog has good wave clear so you need to have too angles of approach to the enemy base. If you team fight he will largely melt you before you can do anything so if the kogmaw is strong just avoid grouping in general

On dueling Jinx - Jinx is the easier of the three due to her kit

  1. Jinx usually needs a baby sitter and her damage is not mixed so she isn't going to kill you that fast compared to the other two ADCs with Vayne's true Damage and Kogmaws magic damage.
  2. Jinx has no escapes so after she uses her traps and her slow she is pretty much dead. Side step the traps if she uses them early (if you get trapped you can still kill her if she isn't that strong) and dodge the slow.
  3. Jinx is one of my favorite ADCs because no matter how fed she gets Nasus CAN duel her. It is just a matter of whether she gets protection or not. No protection equals a dead jinx if she is near a Nasus.
  4. I always reassure my teammates if a Jinx gets fed to not worry about her because as long as the other opponents are not too strong she can easily be taken out even with a QSS.

I hope this helps. I do think that these are skill based matchups with ADCs having a slight edge on Nasus in a duel if they have damage. You need to dodge abilities, pay attention to what summoners they have, pay attention if they have QSS and if it is up, max wither over spirit fire, and pay attention to your approach. You cannot simply think because you have armor, health, and stacks that you can duel them in the late game. Vayne is the trickiest of the three, but while Vayne is a tank kill Nasus counters attack speed champions like her.

Sirsir1 votes

Always go Triforce. I wanted to make BT nasus work (getting 1000 HP back per Q is really nice) but without the movespeed and Phage passive you just get kited to no end. Also I found the IBG field screwing up Q farm sometimes...

Swiftstrike41 votes

{quoted}

Always go Triforce. I wanted to make BT nasus work (getting 1000 HP back per Q is really nice) but without the movespeed and Phage passive you just get kited to no end. Also I found the IBG field screwing up Q farm sometimes...

I actually like triforce, but it is costly. So usually I build sheen and see how the game plays out. If I am doing well I will build triforce (i am the carry). If I need to go tanky and I want to split-push more I build IBG. I also look to see if I need an early power spike which IBG provides. I also consider my lane opponent and enemy comp, if the opposing team is hyper mobile I usually go IBG. Yes, IBG messes up stacks, but by the time you build it you shouldn't be stacking as much and be focusing on map pressure.

More from Gameplay

More by Bultz